Sewa International’s Boston chapter seeks to raise $100,000 to help India fight the COVID-19 second wave that continues to claim as many as 3,000 lives daily and has overwhelmed the country’s healthcare infrastructure. Sewa Boston has also started a volunteer-driven COVID-19 task force to assist the US Indian Diaspora with the critical information needed to help their family members in India. The fundraising campaign is being conducted via the Sewa Boston’s Facebook site.

Arvind Sodhani, a local Indian American philanthropist, is matching donations up to $100,000 in this campaign. “Sewa is pleased to collaborate with the Sondhani family to raise funds. Sewa Boston is requesting the help of Boston area organizations, businesses, and individuals to get help India in this crisis,” Subba Raju Datla, Sewa Boston Chapter’s Coordinator said.

“We have received a great response to our campaign. We are getting donations from individuals as well as organizations and we appreciate their willingness to donate for a cause that would save many lives in India. As a leading Indian American non-profit in this area, we will continue to do our part to help India fight this COVID-19 surge,” Datla said.

Sewa’s task force staffed by local Chapter volunteers, Neha Kaushal, Manjari Tulshan, Geetanjali Virmani, and Sanjiv Kaushik has been formed to respond to hundreds of requests Sewa is receiving from the Boston Metropolitan Area families who have their extended family members or friends in India. Providing critical information such as the availability of ventilators, oxygen, and hospital in India to these families is the taskforce’s primary concern. “Sewa requests New England community members to use this service if a loved one is looking for help to find medical assistance in India,” Datla said.

“Currently, there is a huge need for reliable, centralized information in coronavirus hotspots in India like New Delhi where the demand for emergency medical equipment and medicine to treat COVID-19 patients has far outstripped the supply. Sewa International India team has launched a digital helpdesk powered by crowdsourced information on the availability of scarce resources. This dashboard, available online at https://covidsewa.com, provides information verified by Sewa volunteers,” said Datla. 

Sewa International, an American non-profit organization that specializes in disaster relief and recovery, is running ‘Help India Defeat COVID-19’ Facebook campaign to raise $10 million to send oxygen concentrators, ventilators, and other emergency medical equipment to India. So far, more than   102,000 donors have contributed over seven million dollars to Sewa for this cause. Sewa International has shipped a total of 2,584 oxygen concentrators to India and these devices would be sent to various locations in India depending on the rapidly evolving situation on the ground.

About Sewa International

Sewa International, a leading Hindu faith based, Indian American nonprofit organization, has extensive experience in disaster rescue, relief, and rehabilitation operations having responded to nearly 30 disasters in the US and abroad. In 2017, after Hurricane Harvey struck the Houston area, Sewa volunteers helped in the rescue of nearly 700 people and have served thousands of affected families since then through their case management service. Sewa raised over $3 million for Hurricane Harvey recovery, Sewa continues to rebuild houses, and greenhouses that serve as a means of livelihood. Sewa International has also rendered relief in the wake of hurricane Maria in 2018 and Hurricane Imelda in 2019. Sewa teams in the San Francisco Bay Area continue to build and donate tiny homes for those rendered homeless in California Camp Fire of November 2018.

Sewa International has been recognized by Charity Navigator – the premier nonprofit rating agency – as the number five among the “10 Highly Rated Charities Relying on Private Contributions.” Sewa has for the last four years continuously scored the topmost-rated 4-star from Charity Navigator, and has earned perfect scores for its Financial Health, Accountability & Transparency. 

For more information on Sewa International and its activities, please visit http://www.sewausa.org. For more information on Sewa International’s efforts to support communities nationwide during the COVID-19 crisis, please visit https://sewausa.org/covid-19.

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